Holiday Celebrations Across College Campuses

The winter holiday season is filled with celebrations, special foods, and beautiful decorations. Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or other holidays, this time of year is marked by traditions at home and at school. Last year we highlighted some of our favorite college Thanksgiving traditions, so this year we are highlighting some of our favorite winter holiday celebrations on college campuses across the country!

CHRISTMAS ON 5TH, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

From Christmas carols to the tree lighting, students and members of the Waco, Texas community will fill the center of campus in celebration of Baylor’s traditional Christmas on 5th. They can enjoy food trucks, arts and crafts, pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and other holiday activities supported by many student organizations. The festivities include performances ranging from live Nativity scenes to The Nutcracker to Holiday Carols from Around the World by the Department of Modern Languages & Cultures, and culminate in a Christmas tree lighting and concert.

KWANZAA AND FEAST OF FAITH, NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

The African American Cultural Center at NC State invites students for an early celebration of Kwanzaa and the Feast of Faith, taking place before final exams as Kwanzaa falls during winter break. NC State teaches the principles of Kwanzaa, which include unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. In this special event, the community finds new ways to focus on Black resilience, innovation, and joy!

CHANUKAH IN THE SQUARE, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON

Students at the College of Charleston gather to recognize the Festival of Lights in Marion Square with the annual Chanukah in the Square, the largest Jewish celebration in South Carolina. Sponsored by the city and the school, everyone is invited to enjoy live music and food ranging from traditional hot latkes to kettle corn. Students can also take part in the 16th annual lighting of the giant menorah!

CHRISTMAS ON CAMPUS, UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON

For 60 years, the University of Dayton community has held Christmas on Campus. Student organizations host activities ranging from a carnival with activities sponsored by fraternities and sororities to performances from campus dance, music, and demonstration group. There’s also ornament making, cookie decorating, pictures with Santa, and more! But UD students don’t just celebrate: they buddy up with over 1,000 local children from the Dayton City Schools to explore and enjoy. 

LATKAPALOOZA, DUKE UNIVERSITY

Duke students celebrate Latkapalooza each year at the start of Hanukkah. This fun event includes a candle lighting with traditional Jewish prayers, latkes, and even a jelly doughnut-eating contest! Co-sponsored by the Jewish Student Union and Jewish Life at Duke, all students are welcome to play the Dreidel game and try latkes, a pancake-like traditional dish made from potatoes.

YULE LOG CELEBRATION, WILLIAM & MARY

At the annual Yule Log Celebration of peace, joy and gratitude, students and alumni gather to enjoy music and singing; a reading of traditional poems; and, for good luck, the tossing of holly sprigs into the fireplace. If you’re in a different city, you can still participate - check out the Yule Log gatherings across the country for alumni, families, and friends of the school. There’s even an option for those who can’t celebrate in person at all: William & Mary provides a live feed of the festivities in Williamsburg, along with videos of the fireplace and recipes for the traditional cakes, cookies, and cinnamon rolls.

Happy Holidays!

Unique Freedoms on College Campuses

Happy (belated) 4th of July! As we celebrated our country’s independence last week, we thought it would be fun to honor “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”-- college-style, of course! So today we’re sharing some unique freedoms on college campuses, from self-scheduled final exams to make-your-own-majors to tuition-free schools. 

HONOR CODES

An honor code is a set of standards and values that a school outlines for its students regarding academic integrity, ethical conduct, and behavior. Although it might just sound like a fancy label for another set of rules and restrictions, honor codes can actually offer students a surprising number of freedoms. 

At Davidson College, for example, students have the flexibility to self-schedule their final exams–and no, the professors don’t watch them take the test. Randolph-Macon College takes a similar approach to final exams, allowing undergrads to choose the time, day, and even room to complete their tests. And as part of their honor code, students have another unique liberty: freedom from “telling on” someone else. Instead of reporting an honor code violation, students are encouraged to ask the person to report themselves. 

But with great honor code freedom comes great responsibility. Haverford College has one of the few student-run honor codes, which is overseen by its Honor Council. This group of 16 students works to resolve honor code violations and maintains the spirit and integrity of the code. It’s a big job, but the Honor Council gives students the freedom to shape the campus culture and address problems fairly.

Design your own major 

Forget having to pick from a list of approved majors! Some schools give students the freedom to design their own course of study. In Indiana University’s Individualized Major Program (IMP), undergraduates work with a faculty sponsor to design a multidisciplinary major and a personalized curriculum. IMP students can’t escape the university’s general education requirements, though!  

Similarly, James Madison University’s Independent Scholars Program seeks students whose interests break the typical curricular boundaries. Participants develop an area of inquiry and plan a course of study which is grounded in experiential learning. Independent research or a creative project is a must! 

New York University is so committed to freedom of study that it dedicated an entire school to personalized majors. Gallatin School of Individualized Study emphasizes self-direction for mature students who want to build their own majors. The school also takes into account that designing a unique course of study can be challenging–and sometimes lonely. Therefore, Gallatin students are assigned two advisors. One acts as an “intellectual mentor” while the other oversees a small cohort of students and takes charge of community-building.

Grades

It’s not an urban myth! There actually are colleges and universities that don’t assign grades–well, at least not in the traditional way. Rather than relying on simple letters to measure student performance, professors at Sarah Lawrence College take a three-step approach to assessing undergrads. Critical ability assessments and narrative evaluations give faculty more freedom and flexibility to explain a student’s overall progress and performance. Plus, students are free from having to guess why they got that B+ instead of an A-. The thorough assessments and evaluations explain everything that the letter grade can’t.

While Sarah Lawrence students still see letter grades on their transcripts, that’s not the case at Brown University. Students here can choose to earn a letter grade for a particular class or a satisfactory/no credit designation. It’s up to the individual at the time of course registration, and if they change their minds later, they have the first month of the semester to switch their grading option. So with the freedom to choose letter grades or not, how does Brown calculate GPAs? Simple, they don’t! 

Students at Bennington College can also opt for letter grades, BUT only if they specifically request them during the semester. Otherwise, transcripts are composed solely of narrative evaluations, which are meant to foster a culture of conversation between students and faculty. 

Tuition

Let’s face it. High tuition costs and decades of loan repayments can be a huge burden for students. However, there are some colleges that have managed to free students of any financial worry. They have found creative ways for students to exchange tuition payments for good old-fashioned hard work. 

College of the Ozarks covers tuition costs, provided that students demonstrate need and agree to work on campus. Students at Warren Wilson College also work in exchange for tuition, with emphasis on learning a craft and gaining valuable skill sets for the professional world.

At Deep Springs College, located on a cattle ranch in California, all accepted students receive a full scholarship, including room and board. In return, undergrads are expected to work on the cattle ranch and contribute to the life of the school. The student body even helps make important decisions about admissions and faculty hires. 

scheduling

Thanks to a reimagining of the traditional semester calendar, some schools are able to offer undergraduates more freedom and flexibility in their schedules.

At Bates College, undergraduates spend the month of May taking a short course. These are immersive classes that take students off campus and into the field. Last spring, undergrads were analyzing earthquakes in California, studying theater in central Europe, and researching healthcare systems in South America. 

Undergrads at Colby College have the freedom to make dreary January much more exciting thanks to Jan Plan. This month-long block allows students to choose from an array of internships, research opportunities, and unconventional classes. For example, this past January, students had the option to earn their EMT licenses, learn the art of blacksmithing, study tropical plants in Costa Rica, and more! 

And finally, one of the most famous schools for scheduling freedom is Dartmouth College. Their D-Plan allows students to design their very own academic calendars. How exactly does that work? Well, the college distinguishes between residency terms, those where students study on campus, and leave terms, in which students intern or undertake research projects. Of course there are some guidelines to help students organize their calendars, but the D-Plan ultimately opens up a lot of possibilities that wouldn’t be available within a traditional semester schedule.

Did any of these special freedoms pique your interest? If you’d like to do some more research on any of the schools mentioned, here are some our favorite online resources:

• You can find virtual tours on the school's websites or at youvisit.com. The virtual information sessions will almost always be on the individual school websites. 

• Create a free account on the Princeton Review website at review.com and read their write-ups on various colleges. I particularly like the "See what students say" perspectives and the “Rankings & Lists” sections.

• More great resources for college profiles are the reviews at unigo.com (I like the "Most-Answered Questions" part), and the "report cards" at niche.com.

Weekly Update: April 17

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

THE SUPREME COURT MAKES A $6 BILLION DECISION ON STUDENT LOANS

On Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to block a settlement that will provide $6 billion in relief to student loan borrowers. The settlement was meant to resolve a 2018 class action lawsuit against the Department of Education by those who claimed they were defrauded by their schools. A small group of colleges impacted by the ruling appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming the deal “did not assess the validity of the borrowers’ claims and would damage their reputations.” Although this case is not connected to President Biden’s proposal to cancel student debt, many wonder what the Supreme Court’s decision could mean for student loan cases in the future.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT DELAYS RELEASE OF SCHOOL RANKINGS

If you’re anxiously awaiting the U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of best graduate schools, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer. On Friday, U.S. News & World Report announced that it will be moving its release date from April 18 to April 25. That’s because the news outlet has received a high volume of questions from schools included in the rankings, who were given a week to review the results. U.S. News & World Report is using the additional time to thoroughly respond to inquiries. 

STRIKE ENDS AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

After a weeklong strike at Rutgers- the first in the university’s history- classes are back in session today! Strikers marched on three different Rutgers campuses, calling for increased job security, wages, and equality for faculty and staff. University officials worked with union representatives and announced this weekend that they’ve made a “framework agreement” for faculty contracts. Now professors are looking forward to returning to the classroom and finishing the spring semester. 

ANOTHER COLLEGE MAKES TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSIONS PERMANENT

Last week Vassar College announced that their test-optional admissions policy is now permanent. Like many schools, Vassar first became test-optional during the pandemic. The decision to make this COVID-response policy permanent is grounded in current research, according to college president Elizabeth H. Bradley, who cited access, equity, and mental health as factors in the decision.

Mirabella at Arizona State University is a thriving senior community. You can read more about it here.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Forget moving south or living by the beach. Senior citizens can spend their retirement years on a college campus. Since the mid-2000s, several universities have built senior living communities on their grounds. Why, you might ask? Although it may seem like an odd choice, the unique partnership between a school and a senior community offers plenty of advantages. Not only does a school benefit financially, but so do its residents. Seniors become part of a youthful, energetic environment and undergrads have the chance to find mentors and internship opportunities through the senior community. Of course, such a model isn’t right for everyone. Schools need to do their research, so they understand how they might benefit seniors and how a senior community can benefit the campus environment. 

How do college students really feel about grades? That’s the question Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse sought to answer. Over 3,000 undergraduates were recently surveyed about their experiences with grading, and the results tell a very “nuanced” story. The numbers show that race, socioeconomic status, and learning differences impact the perception of grading fairness. These findings aren’t surprising to many in the education world. Instead, they reinforce what many have been calling for: alternative systems of grading that focus more on growth and mastery of skills over the traditional letter grades. Regardless of how grading systems and policies may morph in the future, one thing is clear. The survey reinforces the need for professors to be more transparent about their grading practices and their expectations for students. 

There’s always been thousands of colleges for young adults to choose from, but that hasn’t been the case for students with intellectual disabilities. Fortunately, though, several schools have developed successful programs over the past decade specifically designed to help students develop the skills necessary to live independently and prepare them for jobs. ClemsonLIFE is just one example! But with the rise in popularity of such programs comes the need for regulation and accreditation. Families want to ensure that schools are implementing high quality programs that are safe for students and give them an authentic learning experience that generates confidence.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Our juniors have been making such amazing progress on their Common App ® essays, which can be a lot of work for us. But at the same time it’s so deeply satisfying to help things shift into place for a student during the writing process - like finding that last puzzle piece under a seat cushion, when frustration ends and all becomes right in the world!

In other news, I am back from visiting Paris and London with my daughter last week, and I have a tour recommendation with a fun college-related back story if anyone will be in Europe anytime soon.

Fat Tire Tours was started by a recent grad from Texas A&M who fell in love with showing his visitors around Paris on bicycles during his study abroad. He liked it so much that he actually bypassed a career at PWC to try to start his own bike tour company in Paris. The company immediately differentiated itself because of an an emphasis on having fun rather than throwing too much detail at people.

Well, one thing led to another and now he’s the owner of the largest bike tour company in the world! How cool is that? It goes to show that you never know which college experiences will end up being life-changing in the bigger picture!

As an aside, these tours really ARE fun. I heard about the company in the early 2000s and loved my first tour so much that I became hooked! I try to take one whenever I’m abroad. My daughter Caroline was not overly excited beforehand but then talked for the next week about how amazing our tour guide OJ was :) And she learned a lot! They have a Fat Tire operation in DC, too, so that’s next on our list.

If you’re ready to head overseas for your own study abroad career inspiration, check out our upcoming Thursday blog post to learn everything you need to know!

Small Details, Big Messages: What to Look for on a Campus Tour

When you’re touring a college campus, it’s easy to get distracted. That’s because you’re probably busy checking out the size of the dorm rooms or noting the food options in the cafeteria. Or maybe you’re gazing off down the street at the football stadium or anxiously awaiting your chance to check out the gym facilities. There’s a lot to take in, so much so that you might not always notice the details. But did you know that small details can actually send big messages about a college?

On your next campus visit, be on the lookout for these subtle clues. They will give you insight into the school culture and might just help you make important decisions about whether or not you can picture yourself there!

Advertisements

One of the best ways to really get a sense of what goes on at a college is to look at advertisements. As you tour academic buildings, student centers, and dorms, take note of bulletin boards and posted flyers, especially in entryways. These ads will show the kinds of events taking place on campus and how students are getting involved. Plus, they can help answer questions you may have about the social environment and political climate.

Classrooms

Although you may not have the chance to sit in on an actual college class, make sure you take a peek into some classrooms. These rooms can reveal a lot about the academic life on campus–if you know what to look for. First (and most obviously), take note of the size of the classrooms. Are you seeing lots of big lecture halls or smaller, more intimate spaces? Also, what type of furniture is there - and what is the layout like? Do most of them have desks, and if so, are they arranged by rows or in a circle? Do you notice any rooms with seminar tables or interactive work areas? Finally, scan the rooms for technology, so you can get a sense of how professors actually deliver their lessons.

Student Interactions

Is the cafeteria packed with students huddled around the tables? Are there groups of undergrads hanging out on the quad? Did you notice if the library study rooms are filled with people doing group projects? Has anyone said hello as you’ve passed them on the walkway? These are easy details to overlook, but don’t! Observe the ways that students interact with other members of the school community and with visitors like you. You can also learn a lot by paying attention to common areas. Notice if/how the campus layout gives students opportunities to gather and collaborate– and if they’re actually using these spaces.  

The most memorable graffiti I’ve ever seen on a college campus. It says: “Keep Baylor Baptist!” This gives an indication that there’s some secularization occurring, which could be a good or bad thing depending on an individual student’s preferences!

Signs of protest

Students everywhere have complaints, and some aren’t afraid to express them publicly! Look closely to see if you can spot signs of protest on campus: graffiti, advertisements, etc. These postings are often a source of valuable insight into the campus culture and what students care about. 

Safety

Remember that the college you’re touring could potentially be your home for the next four years. It’s important that you feel safe and secure. Yes, everyone has blue lights. But what else? As you walk around campus, look for features that would make you feel comfortable if you were strolling down these same pathways in the dark. Are the walkways well-lit? Do you see any security officers patrolling the grounds? Is there a free shuttle or escort service for students walking home late at night? And when you enter buildings, pay particular attention to how people can access them. Do students need to scan an ID card, for example? 

I was very impressed with the security on my last visit to Loyola in Baltimore. I was stopped immediately and not permitted to proceed on campus until I showed ID and a reason for my visit. At Johns Hopkins, just a mile away, nobody blinked an eye.

Just as important, take some time to explore the area surrounding the school. Remember that at many colleges and universities, upperclassmen opt to live off campus, and you’ll want to make sure there are safe options. Sometimes, nearby neighborhoods even defy stereotypes associated with the larger metropolitan area! Shout out to the City of Clayton if anyone is considering Wash U - I lived in Clayton during my last year of college (along with many other Wash U students) and it was one of the best places I’ve ever lived.

Cleanliness

Cleanliness speaks volumes! Pay particular attention to how a college maintains its spaces. Are the bathrooms clean? Do the carpets look worn out in the library? Is there a musty smell in the residence halls? Of course a college campus isn’t going to be perfectly pristine, but you can see when effort is being made to keep everything clean and up to date.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To help you keep track of all of the details on a campus tour, take notes and pictures. We promise, it’s not geeky, and it will help you later as you start to compare all of the schools you’ve visited.

If you’re interested in learning more about campus tours, revisit our blog post from last spring. We shared expert tips on when to schedule your visit, how to prepare, and what do while you’re actually on campus.

Safe campus travels!

Pup-tastic College Campuses

Happy National Puppy Day, otherwise known as one of the cutest days of the year! Not only is March 23 designed to celebrate our furry friends. It’s also a chance to raise awareness about puppy mills and pet adoptions.

Of course we couldn’t let this adorable holiday pass without honoring the pups in our own way. So today we’re taking a look at some of the most pet-tastic opportunities on college campuses!

Shannon’s dog Bug was a rescue from CareRVA. He is blind and three-legged, but loves to cuddle!

PET-FRIENDLY COLLEGES WITH UNIQUE ANIMAL POLICIES

For students who dread the idea of leaving their pets behind when they move away to college, we’ve got great news! Some schools do allow pets on campus. But there is always a BUT! Take a look at these unique pet policies:

Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, FL)

This small liberal arts college isn’t just known for its gorgeous waterfront campus. It also happens to be the #1 pet-friendly college in America. That’s because Eckerd has a generous pet policy, allowing students to bring cats, dogs, chinchillas, rabbits, even snakes with them to college. If you cringe at the thought of living next door to a big, scaly creature, though, don’t worry. Eckerd has clearly delineated small and large pet housing buildings, extensive safety requirements, and a dedicated Pet Life Staff to ensure everyone’s comfort. 

In addition to its unique pet policies, Eckerd also has some special campus traditions dedicated to its pet population. Every fall, the college offers a pet blessing, and when it comes time for spring graduation, President Annarelli presents outgoing animals with their very own diplomas. And if you check out the school’s website and social media accounts, you’ll see that the “student” body of pets are honored with their own Instagram accounts and are often featured by Eckerd’s Pet Life Team. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

Cat lovers at MIT are in luck! The university allows feline companions in four of its dorms. But before you start moving in the litter box, there are a few other boxes to check. Students must get written consent from all roommates, as well as the approval of others living on the floor. Additionally, cats must be up-to-date on shots and wear an identification tag that includes its owner’s MIT email address. 

Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA)

While Lehigh has a strict no-pet policy in its residence halls (except for small, noise-free fish tanks), the university does allow cats and dogs in campus sorority and fraternity houses. But before recruiting new furry members for their chapter, students in sorority and fraternity houses better have a meeting because there’s a lot to coordinate. Only ONE cat or dog is permitted per house, and one student must assume primary ownership and responsibility. The pets are also not allowed to roam around the house without proper supervision. And for sororities and fraternities considering a dog, they need to carefully study the list of accepted breeds and register the pet long before it ever arrives on campus! 

Reed College (Portland, OR)

“Get with the times!” That’s precisely what Reed College did in 2014 when the school revamped its longstanding Dog Policy. The newly rebranded Animal Policy is more inclusive of all support and service animals on campus. Plus, there are new freedoms for canine friends at Reed. Gone are the days of required Reed dog tags, polaroid pictures, and even leashes (in a few designated areas, at least). We imagine this is great news for those with service animals, as well as undergrads living in on-campus apartments, where one dog, cat, or caged pet is permitted.

ANIMAL COMMUNITIES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Although the majority of colleges and universities don’t allow on-campus pets, there are some schools that have created special communities for animal lovers. Take a look! 

Animals and Society Living-Learning Community at SUNY Binghamton 

There’s an entire community dedicated to animal-lovers at SUNY Binghamton! Students interested in animal-related careers or those simply looking for ways to get closer to nature can apply to the Animals and Society Living-Learning Community. Participants learn about animal history, as well as how to work with different kinds of animals. And do you want to hear the coolest part, at least in our opinions? The Animals and Society Living-Learning Community just happens to be located right next to a nature preserve. What a perfect spot! 

FETCH Program at the University of Minnesota

Fostering Education and Training Canines in Housing- otherwise known as FETCH- is a unique living-learning community at University of Minnesota. This small program is designed for students interested in becoming part of the service animal industry. Participants learn how to train service animals while volunteering at local organizations. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, FETCH members also have the chance to foster and train service animals right in their own dorm rooms. 

Lafayette College Dog House

Usually if you’re “in the dog house,” you’re in big trouble. However, that’s not the case at Lafayette College. Students living in the Dog House- the name affectionately given to this living-learning community- dedicate themselves to training and raising service dogs as part of Canine Partners for Life. Participants live with their service dogs and take them wherever they go on campus. 

Bug’s first flight - he is a great traveler!

If you’re a dog lover, hopefully you’ve figured out by now that you don’t have to give up time with puppies in college! Whether you’re interested in making a career out of your love for animals or just want to have your pet nearby in your dorm room, we hope this list gives you some ideas and options for your college choice!

Schooled in Love: Fun Valentine's Day Facts From College Campuses

Valentine’s Day is next week, and we’re celebrating the holiday of love college-style! Read on to learn about famous college sweethearts, romantically-themed college classes, and more!

Romantic campus traditions

Do you hope to find a partner before college graduation? Do you want to make your crush love you back? Well, then you better follow these romantic college campus traditions!

(Side note: We are not proponents of trying to find your life partner in college - quite the contrary, actually! But in the spirit of Valentine’s Day we are playing along..❤️❤️❤️ )

At William and Mary, the Crim Dell bridge can determine the fate of a student's love life. According to legend, those who walk across the bridge alone will remain solo forever. And those who cross with a lover must stop for a kiss in the middle of the bridge to ensure their happy ending. If they ever break up, the couple must return to the bridge and throw one partner off of it (no, we’re not making this up!).

At Syracuse, students don’t have to push anyone off of a bridge. They just need to sit on the kissing bench. This resting spot is supposed to bring marriage to couples who kiss here. But beware if you are single! It’s believed that if a single person sits on the bench, they’ll be alone for life. 

Hopeful couples looking for a happily ever after at Texas A&M head to the iconic Century Tree. It was one of the first trees planted on campus and is steeped in legend. Supposedly, if a couple walks under the tree together, they will marry. And any couple who becomes engaged under the tree will have a successful, lifelong marriage.

LOVE in the city of brotherly love

Are you in search of love? If so, you’re sure to find it at the University of Pennsylvania. Situated in the city of brotherly love, UPenn is home to an iconic bright red LOVE sculpture. According to the university’s almanac, pop artist Robert Indiana first designed the LOVE logo in the 1960s. The stacked L-O-V-E letters had such appeal that Indiana eventually turned the logo into a sculpture in the early 70s. Since then, sculptures of LOVE have been reproduced all over the world, even appearing in different languages. A rendition of the famous sculpture currently stands in the heart of UPenn’s campus, thanks to a donation from art dealer Jeffrey Loria. So if you’re looking for love this Valentine’s Day, head to 36th and Locust Walk.

College sweethearts

College campuses have long been the setting for great love stories. In fact, several celebrities met their future spouses as students. While attending Harvard University- and creating Facebook in his spare time- Mark Zuckerberg reportedly met his future wife at a fraternity party in 2003. They were together nearly a decade before officially changing their relationship status to ‘married.’ 

Bill and Hillary Clinton met while both taking a class on political and civil rights at Yale Law School. The former president was too hesitant to introduce himself, so Hillary made the first move one day in the library. According to Clinton, his future wife approached him with a memorable line: “Look, if you’re gonna keep staring at me and now I’m staring back, we at least ought to know each other’s name.” 

Perhaps the most famous college sweethearts in the world are Prince William and Princess Catherine. The two met at the University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland where they developed a close friendship. Eventually they became platonic flatmates, and as Prince William described in their engagement interview, “It just sort of blossomed from there, really.”

Schooled in Love

To some, love is just a feeling, but it happens to be a topic of serious study at several colleges and universities across the country. In recent years, a number of classes analyzing the psychology of love, as well as the state of modern relationships have appeared in course catalogs. At Northwestern University, undergraduates interested in developing their relationship skills can take Dr. Alexandra Solomon’s highly publicized class, Building Loving and Lasting Relationships: Marriage 101. Over the course of a semester, students study the art of dating, bonding, and partnering across cultures. This class has been such a hit that it’s received media coverage in major news outlets.

NYU has found its own success with love-themed classes. In Love Actually, students explore what love actually is from psychological, cultural and artistic perspectives. If you’re interested in seeing why this course has become so popular (and the topics it covers), check out the course book list. And for students who want to learn more about the college dating scene, NYU offers 100 Years of Courting, Dating, and Hooking Up on College Campuses. In this class, undergrads take a look at the changing behaviors of college students over the past century and examine how universities have responded. 

Some of our lesser-known favorites over the past five years include Love, Mating, and the Brain (UT Austin); Love in the Time of Tinder (Lehigh University); and The Art of Loving (Princeton University). 

sweet tooth

No Valentine’s Day is complete without a delicious heart-shaped box of chocolates. And we have Penn State to thank for these sweet treats! The College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State is known throughout the world for its quality chocolate research over the past fifty years. Teams of faculty, graduate students, and fellows have worked to enhance crop production and the overall quality and taste of chocolate. Specific research topics include cacao production, chocolate making processes, and plant improvement. In an effort to share their passion with others, The College of Agricultural Sciences offered a Chocolate Short Course in the summer of 2022 for professionals in the chocolate industry. 

A Lovely Entrepreneur 

When Esther Howland graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1847, she had no idea that she would fall in love with business or become the “mother of the American valentine.”  Inspired by the Valentine’s greeting cards her father sold in his stationery shop, Esther decided to create her own. She imported speciality materials from England and created an elaborate signature look for her Valentine’s greetings. The cards were often decorated with lace, silk, and satin! What began as a small project in the family home eventually transformed into a successful business: the New England Valentine Company. Howland ended up earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in the 1800s— a time when women weren’t supposed to work outside the home, let alone run a business. Since then Howland has become a true legend. Her entrepreneurial spirit is a reminder of Mount Holyoke's long-standing reputation for educating powerful female leaders.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Whether you’re celebrating with your galentines, palentines or valentines, we hope you have a wonderful week and get to eat lots of yummy treats!